GO HOGS!!! WOOOOOOO PIG SOOIE!!So far things in Arr-kan-saw have been decent, all things considered. After a long drive down with Kristin in some serious rain we were welcomed by our hosts Marion and Carolyn Smith and their two very sweet Dachshunds, Sally and Samantha. They were kind enough to make us dinner then we headed over to the host hotel to retrieve race numbers and stuff. I was very tired and had a killer headache so I was pretty much asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow that night.
The first stage (on Thursday) was the Devil's Den Uphill TT, about 2.5mi long with an average grade of somewhere between 6 and 7%. I'm really not a good climber but I was hoping to have a respectable performance. I'd had an okay warm up and basically trashed myself early by going out too hard then suffered the rest of the way to a somewhat disappointing finish. After looking at the file from my ride it's clear that I really couldn't have done much more except pace myself better which would have probably led to a better outcome. Am I happy with things? Hell no, but it's too late to do anything about it now. I will assume the role of 'domestique' at this point and basically work my ass off to protect my teammates who finished better on the TT.
Our hosts invited the entire team over for dinner after the TT and we spent the better part of the evening laughing so hard our stomachs hurt. At one point I actually ended up with Gatorade finding it's way out my nose and onto the floor after Kat recounted a work encounter that involved a senile nursing home patient who refused to wash her hands after 'doing her business.' Guess you had to be there... I again hit the pillow with a splitting headache.
I'm optimistic that we can make some things happen for our team and get some well-deserved respect in today's road race. I'll attempt to post after we're done. In case I don't get to do that until tomorrow, I want to send a message to the guys back home who will be doing the 2-person TT on Saturday - ride like hell and take no prisoners!!
As always, thanks for reading...and to confirm my earlier suspicions, yes - everything in Arkansas is indeed about HOGS...check it out here.
The first stage (on Thursday) was the Devil's Den Uphill TT, about 2.5mi long with an average grade of somewhere between 6 and 7%. I'm really not a good climber but I was hoping to have a respectable performance. I'd had an okay warm up and basically trashed myself early by going out too hard then suffered the rest of the way to a somewhat disappointing finish. After looking at the file from my ride it's clear that I really couldn't have done much more except pace myself better which would have probably led to a better outcome. Am I happy with things? Hell no, but it's too late to do anything about it now. I will assume the role of 'domestique' at this point and basically work my ass off to protect my teammates who finished better on the TT.
Our hosts invited the entire team over for dinner after the TT and we spent the better part of the evening laughing so hard our stomachs hurt. At one point I actually ended up with Gatorade finding it's way out my nose and onto the floor after Kat recounted a work encounter that involved a senile nursing home patient who refused to wash her hands after 'doing her business.' Guess you had to be there... I again hit the pillow with a splitting headache.
I'm optimistic that we can make some things happen for our team and get some well-deserved respect in today's road race. I'll attempt to post after we're done. In case I don't get to do that until tomorrow, I want to send a message to the guys back home who will be doing the 2-person TT on Saturday - ride like hell and take no prisoners!!
As always, thanks for reading...and to confirm my earlier suspicions, yes - everything in Arkansas is indeed about HOGS...check it out here.
